by José Portuondo-Dember It’s easy to think of going to the mikveh in terms of “washing away.” My very first experience with a ritual bath was my baptism in the Roman Catholic Church as an infant. It was couched in the language of washing away original sin. As I turned to Judaism and began learning […]
Continue Readingby Ben Chartock Although I am only weeks away from my college graduation, I arrived at Mayyim Hayyim when I was 12 years old, and I have a unique vantage point with which to observe the history of the mikveh. Ten years ago, I was a student at Solomon Schechter Day School in Newton, and […]
Continue Readingby Alan Teperow One of the things I love most about Mayyim Hayyim is its fluidity – both in and out of the water. It is this fluidity – engaging people of all backgrounds, embracing diversity and approaching Jewish living with such openness – that has brought the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts (SCM) to Mayyim Hayyim each year […]
Continue ReadingBy Edward C. Bermant Even though my wife has visited the mikveh and my daughter is Mayyim Hayyim’s Executive Director, it never occurred to me that I would go to a mikveh and immerse. That was something women do, not men. It never occurred to me until I retired. It was not about being closer to the end […]
Continue Readingby Walton Clark, Office Assistant Whenever you start work at a new place there is an adjustment period. You have to learn exactly how you are going to operate amongst the other employees, pick up the office culture, and get acclimated to your physical surroundings. This would take some adjustment for any person. For me, […]
Continue Readingby Justin Womack, the first in a two part series of a couple’s mikveh experience It was June 18, 2013,–Tzadik Lev’s birthday. People always ask what does it feel to be an African-American man who converted to Judaism? I always wonder why that matters. A member of the tribe is a member of the tribe! […]
Continue Readingby Tucker Lieberman I am a Humanist Jew. I am a Jew by birth, upbringing, education, and community. I believe in rational inquiry and skepticism. I am a person who shies from labels, but nonetheless, I am a Humanist Jew. Exactly what is it, I have been asked, that draws a humanist to a mikveh? […]
Continue ReadingBy Al Tanenbaum, Guest Blogger *Originally posted on June 12, 2013 on www.rj.org This week’s Torah portion, Chukat, is uncommonly rich with themes of life, death, leadership, and faith. Most often it is thought of for its nearly impenetrable and detailed commandment for using the ashes of an unblemished cow for cleansing those […]
Continue Readingby Jim Billings, Mikveh Guide Do you ever wonder where life might be taking you? Life’s journeys are usually full of ups and downs, twists and turns and paths unexpected, and sometimes we end up in the strangest of places. Approximately 30 years ago I converted to Judaism. I said the Shema (a prayer that […]
Continue Readingby Jordan Braunig, Hebrew College Intern Last September I began an internship at Mayyim Hayyim working on a Men’s Initiative. I’ve had the opportunity to be trained as a Mikveh Guide along with a cohort of nine other guys. I was an attendee at an amazing event, Men, Mikveh and Malt, that took place at […]
Continue Readingby Benjamin Maron, Mikveh Guide In many ways, my work has been about the people at the fringes of our communities, those outside looking in. I’ve worked in social services, ran youth outreach groups, and started interfaith dialogue groups between Muslim and Jewish students on a too volatile campus. I spend my days at InterfaithFamily, […]
Continue Readingby Leah Hart Tennen, Mikveh Center Director Last week marked the end of my first year as a full-time employee at Mayyim Hayyim. Many have heard me joke, “If you harass people enough, they’ll hire you,” but the truth is, I am incredibly lucky to be able to pass under the sign reading “boachem l’shalom” […]
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